Together Forever
by Knife-Ear
Summary: Once Knuckles and Julie-su know how much they love each other how much more do they have to prove it?And to who?
1. I love you

_Run_. It was the only thought pounding through Julie-su's head. _Find him. Run._ Her legs ached as she forced them to carry her further and faster, but it was nothing like the pain in her heart. She had to find Knuckles. She had to see him, touch him, be with him, be there for him.

Julie-su fled through the uncharted woods that swept across Angel Island. _Run._ Everywhere she looked, she couldn't find him, but no matter where she went, she felt him. _Don't stop. Run._

She tore through the thick underbrush of the forest, tears flooding her eyes. Her legs finally gave out, and she collapsed to the ground, face down in the mud.

There she lay; crying, cold, and alone. She didn't move. She couldn't find a reason_. Look at you._ She had failed herself_. All this for a man_. She sobbed harder as her senses finally registered the pain in her body.

"Julie-su?"

That voice…? For a split-second, Julie-su thought she had finally gone insane.

"Julie?"

The numb buzz in her chest blossomed into warmth. She lifted her head to see a dark figure standing a little way away in the shelter of the woods, a white crest across his chest shining lightly in the pale moonlight.

"Knuckles," she whispered, suddenly ashamed of her situation.

Knuckles stepped out into the moonlight, his lavender eyes glowing brightly. Julie-su struggled to stand, and though she reached her feet, she stumbled forwards, falling again. The other echidna quickly stepped nearer to scoop her up into his arms, noticing for the first time that her slim frame was shaking uncontrollably.

"You're freezing." Knuckles spoke softly, eyes never leaving Julie-su's mud-covered body.

She couldn't speak. She just stared up into Knuckles' angelic face as he smiled down at her.

"Do you want me to take you back to the boys?" he asked, his tone almost laughing.

"No!" Julie-su shrieked, bolting upright.

Knuckles smiled softly. "Alright, alright. I was kidding." Julie-su relaxed and eased back into his arms as Knuckles turned and began walking back to the cave that served as his home. When it came into view, she buried her face into his chest, so very thankful that he had come for her.

Standing inside, Knuckles set Julie-su back onto her feet, keeping his hands on her shoulders to ensure that she wouldn't fall again. She slumped forwards into his arms, darkness slowly engulfing her vision.

"Julie-su?" Knuckles called worriedly.

The pink-furred echidna shut her eyes as a sharp pain shot through her left leg. She grabbed his hands; "I'm fine."

"Far from it," Knuckles retorted, guiding her over to his bed and sitting her down, before lighting larger candles nearby so that he could see her clearer in the flickering orange glow. He knelt beside her to examine a large and jagged gash down the side of one shin.

Knuckles looked up at her. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Julie-su tensed. "I… I…"

Black was beginning to cloud her vision again and Knuckles held her face gently in his hands. "Look at me," he whispered. "You need to start telling me."

She nodded mutely, finally able to see his intensely concerned face. Seeing the recognition in her eyes, he grabbed a wet rag from the nightstand.

"This'll sting a little," he warned. Knuckles then pressed the cloth to the edge of the wound and began to lightly clean the blood-matted fur around it. Julie-su hissed at the touch, despite his gentleness, gripping his shoulders tightly as he continued to wipe at it. Knuckles looked up into her pain-filled eyes and mutely apologized.

Finally it was too much. "Okay, stop!" she yelled out, her nails digging through crimson fur, into his skin.

Knuckles snatched back the blood-drenched rag as though he had been burned. He felt her pain in his own heart and couldn't stand that he was the one hurting her. He closed his eyes and whispered Tikal's prayer softly.

Julie-su only watched as he traced his fingers lightly over the cut, a glowing green line following his movements. Within seconds the cut healed over as though it had never existed with nothing but a light tingling in the skin, and Knuckles stopped. He opened his lavender eyes and stared at Julie-su, who sat still, wide-eyed, in shock.

"You told me that it doesn't work," she whispered inaudibly, scared. She released his shoulders and stood. Knuckles got to his feet in the same moment, towering over her.

"You told me that it doesn't work," she repeated, louder this time. _Unless it's… love…_ she thought fearfully. It was bad enough, her falling for him, but for him to feel the same…

"Knuckles! How-"

But Knuckles' lips interrupted her, capturing her own into a deep, passionate kiss. In an instinctual movement, Julie-su wrapped her arms around his neck, and in the same moment Knuckles wound his around her waist, pressing in the small of her back to pull her flush against him. Several pounding heartbeats later, they both tore their lips away, panting for air.

Their eyes met and they stared at each other for a long moment, realizing that the speeding pulse of the blood in their veins matched one another beat for beat.

They loved each other, and were no longer afraid.


	2. Midnight love

Reluctantly, Julie-su pulled away from Knuckles' touch. She looked around his home, her fingers absentmindedly combing through her filthy violet bangs, trying to fight back a blush to no avail. It wasn't any different to all the other times she'd been here, except that she was alone now. The other occasions, on which she had spent the night, it had been with the Chaotix when they had been caught out in the pouring rain. She shook her head to clear it, staring into the shattered mirror on Knuckles' wall. Thick clumps of mud matted her fur and dreadlocks. She needed a bath, and soon.

She was drawn away from her examination by Knuckles' laughter, but he ceased the moment he noticed her watching. Julie-su, looking over her shoulder, saw him gracefully stride towards her before wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his muzzle in the soft fur of her neck.

He kissed his way slowly up her throat, pausing at her jaw line to whisper in her ear; "There's a river a falls not far from here…"

Julie couldn't help but smile as he caught her lips again, taking her breath away. Unlacing his interlocked fingers where they rested on her stomach, she stepped out of his grasp, causing a frown to form upon the Guardian's face. It was her turn to laugh. She kissed him lightly once more, and backed away. _You don't need romance to have me, Knuckles_, she thought as she came back to her senses. _Bath. Right._ Biting her lip, she turned and left.

It was just as Knuckles had said; before she had walked for more than a few moments, she came upon a long river, a pool to her right being incessantly pounded by the cascade of a waterfall, and out on a branch that reached out into the pond hung a thick towel. Julie checked, out of habit, for people nearby. Sure there wasn't a soul in sight, she undressed, the cold November air biting into her skin through her fur, and she hoped that the water wouldn't be the same.

To her surprise, however, the pool was strangely warmer, like a hot spring. She waded out further, drifting deeper into the water, letting the tension of the day's events be washed away just like the mud. She thought of every second, from the moment she awoke, until… Every sound of the forest faded into the background as her heartbeat drummed loud in her ears. Her mind refused to let go of Knuckles, picturing his face, his voice, his touch… _Oh, don't you go there._

She shivered as she argued with herself. _You fall in love and you get hurt. You give that boy your heart and you'll be consumed alive. Don't. Go. There_.

The echoing sound of a snapping twig brought her crashing back to reality, and she spun to see who or what had made the noise. _Oh God._ Every drop of her blood rushed to burn in her cheeks as she saw Knuckles standing there, just beyond the tree line. Quickly, she snatched the towel from the branch, but it was too late; he had seen her, _all_ of her.

The Guardian stood frozen, like he was glued to the ground. "I… um… you…" he stuttered out, finally turning his gaze to the floor."I… thought you'd be further upstream…" His face flushed crimson just like her own.

_Oh, that's a new excuse._ Julie-su's first instinct was to shout at him, but instead she securely wrapped the towel around herself and stepped from the water. He's just as embarrassed. She made her way over to him, taking his face in her hands and laying her lips over his soft ones.

_What are you doing?_ Her conscience questioned her, as Knuckles pulled her closer to him. She hadn't noticed the chill air until his arms caged her against the trunk of a tree and his body covered her own, warmth seeping into her skin. As his tongue brushed past her lips, her hands moved of their own accord to deftly unzip the jacket that hung loosely on his strong shoulders.

"Knuckles…" she moaned breathily as his frame rubbed up against her.

Knuckles lifted her up, hands gripping her thighs, and reclaimed her lips in a fiery kiss. The jacket slid from his arms and dropped to the floor while Julie-su's nails raked through the silken fur of his chest, though her hands didn't stop their path there; they continued their downwards path, slipping down to rest on his belt.

"Don't tease me, Julie," he grunted as her fingers tightened on the buckle.

She smiled at him, lightly running her fingertips over the front of his jeans. "Don't do it to me then."

With a sharp intake of air, Knuckles smiled back at her and pressed her harder back into the tree, kissing her again. Slowly, he ran his hands up her sides, undoing the towel and letting her feet touch the ground. As the towel slipped and fell to the ground, the two broke for air. Knuckles took in Julie-su's perfect form, amazed both at it and that he hadn't noticed it before, but Julie kept her eyes locked on his.

"Beautiful," he murmured, palms tracing the edges and curves of her body. "You're beautiful."

A light blush settled over her cheeks at his words. Rising on her tip-toes, she recaptured his lips while undoing his belt, and with a hard tug, his jeans fell to the forest floor. Without breaking their kiss, Knuckles gripped her hips and rolled them both to the ground, hovering over her.

"I love you," Knuckles whispered softly by her ear as he claimed and broke the last barrier of her innocence.


	3. The start of change

Death has always come to find her. It seemed to be the curse she was forced to forget, but maybe this form of death would be merciful. Of course this wasn't the first time she had done something she would regret. At least this time she had him, her love that lay sleeping beneath her, holding her, guarding her.

Morning light broke through the cave entrance as she awoke looking to Knuckles' face as he slept soundly. It had rained, she remembered. This was why they moved from the river bed to the solid cave entrance to finish their…

She smiled absently to herself slowly rising on her elbows to survey his face better. Julie kissed his lips gently, laughing quietly to herself. His eyes fluttered open and with it he gripped the small of her back and rolled her beneath him. Tangling in an unbreakable embrace, he lost himself in the warmth of her lips as she let out a blissful moan. As her heartbeat rose an alarming snap of a twig outside caught her attention immediately.

The low bitter laughter outside was enough warning as she frantically tried to cover herself and tear from Knuckles.

"Well, have we all missed the event of the evening?" Vector booming voice echoed into the depths of the cave.

As crimson as Knuckles' fur was, it was nothing that could surpass the color of the two lover's muzzles. Julie-su snatched her clothes quickly as the entire Chaotix burst into chaotic laughter. Once dressed she rushed past them not even speaking a farewell to her beloved, not even bothering to catch his eye for she could not bare to let him see the tears that burned her eyes.

Vector reached for her but a firm fist landed his jaw, dropping the large croc solidly to the ground as the Guardian raced after Julie with no success of stopping her.

Julie-su didn't head to the city nor did she try and find any other being in the world. She moved forward through the forest with only enough determination to not let the tears fall. She moved on until there was no more space for her to walk.

On the edge of the Island she paced back and forth in a small line of the dirt pulling at her dreadlocks and mumbling nonsense to herself. _You should have known. Look at what you've done now. Are you happy now? Pathetic excuse of a…_

Finally it all came. In one loud painful scream that took even the strength for her to stand. She came to ground on her knees choking on her tears as she let herself fall apart not able to comprehend why. _Alone…you should have known…you should have planned, no you shouldn't have fell victim to such low-life feelings. You should have known._

Her rage ignited at herself as she looked to the rising sun. She was above this. She wasn't meant for soultouch and now she understood why. _Everything comes at a price; it looks like you've just paid yours._

Julie-su stood straight and headed off to Echidnapolis to reclaim the few things she owned then be off to relearn how to shut off her heart. Little did she know that her debt to the Guardian family has only just begun.


End file.
